Curiosity Answered
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: The split factions of the Avengers band together when Thanos searches for the remaining Infinity Stones to complete his Gauntlet. As both discuss the strategy, Peter speaks up after Tony makes a passing comment about Steve handling things well, despite his age. The other Avengers attempt to dissuade him from bothering Steve, but curiosity gets the better of him.


**Notes** : This one shot was inspired by an artwork on tumblr by brakken. The backstory is my interpretation of where the MCU may go, based on some of the end credit scenes and it is a fan take. Steve's answers are fan answers as well. Thor is not mentioned, due to the high number of characters mentioned in the one shot.

* * *

"So have we got on this guy?" Clint asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tony plugged in the information he pulled from earlier searches and brought it up on the screen. An image of a leering, square-jawed figure appeared, followed by small windows containing information on his identity.

"This, is Thanos," Tony replied as he nodded at the picture. He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by the sound of someone tapping on the glass door of the meeting room. He sighed and whirled around, gesturing at the door.

"Nat, can you?" Tony prompted as he nodded at the door.

Natasha sighed as she rose from her seat and pushed the door towards Peter, beckoning him to come in. Peter awkwardly raised a hand and mouthed a quick apology to Tony, before sliding into an empty seat.

"Perfect timing Peter," Tony said, a slight hint of sarcasm in his tone. He turned back to the screen and continued his explanation of their newest threat. "Now, this…charming figure up here is Thanos. Ruler of the Chitauri, did some deals with Loki – remember New York – and he's hunting down…these." Tony pulled up a picture of seven rainbow colored gems and explained they were Infinity Stones.

Wanda frowned as she leaned closer to get a better look at the screen. She tilted her head and looked at Vision, before looking back at the screen.

"Yeah Wanda noticed, the Vision's got one of them," Tony remarked as he pointed to the stone in Vision's forehead.

The Vision sat up straighter and he stared at the image of Thanos. "I suspect he'll be coming for me and this Stone?" he said.

Tony nodded and Wanda curled her fingers into a fist. Peter tensed up and pushed his chair back slightly when he saw her eyes flash red for a moment.

"We can't let him," she growled as she glanced at the screen again. "My brother and I…we heard things about other…lifeforms when we were held captive. I did not know his name, but the scientists talked about his power and legacy."

"So, where's the rest of these, uh, Stones?" Peter asked as he laced his fingers together.

"We're in the process of tracking them," The Vision spoke up. "I believe we will need to contain them –"

"Or destroy them. That much power in the hands of one man is dangerous," Rhodes murmured. He shifted in his seat and made a face as he felt a dull pain. Tony paused and glanced over at his partner, who reassured him he was fine.

Peter looked around and noticed that there were some empty seats. He raised his hand to try to get Tony's attention, which was met with an amused look.

"Underoos, this isn't a classroom – you don't have to raise your hand," he sighed. "What's your question?"

"Oh um right…sir," Peter mumbled, putting his arm down. "I see we've got some of Cap's team here, but no Cap, no Falcon, no Ant Giant, and um…where's Black Panther?"

"T'Challa is handling government business back home," Natasha replied. "He is also following a hunch that one of the stones may have been found in a mine. It could be a false lead, but he is going to check."

"As for Captain, Falcon, and…can't remember the shrinking guy's name," Tony said, snapping his fingers.

"Ant Man?" Clint offered.

"Yeah, him! All three of them, have tracked another Infinity Stone in a former S.H.I.E.L.D. holding area and are retrieving it as we speak," Tony replied.

The group snapped their heads to the door when they heard a loud rapping sound on the glass. Scott stood at the door, clad in his Ant Man suit and he loudly yelled, "Got an Infinity Stone delivery for Tony Stank!"

Rhodes snickered at the pun, while Tony's face fell. Nat allowed a small smile across her face and Peter bit his lip to keep from laughing too hard.

"Very funny, guys," Tony grumbled as he opened the door and accepted the contained stone in a protective crate. "Great, now which one is this?"

"It's oval and green," Scott remarked as he pulled his helmet off.

"I found this near the shelf it had been on," Sam replied as he placed a crumpled label in Tony's hand.

Tony put the crate down on the table before smoothing out the label to make out the words 'Soul Stone – Do NOT Handle!' typed on it.

"Vault was broken into, but they hadn't touched the area where this was," Sam said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Had a hell of a fight trying to get out. Good thing Tic Tac was with us." He clapped a hand on Scott's shoulder and nodded grimly.

"Hydra?" Rhodes asked.

"Not sure who they were with," Sam said. "Think some had Hydra jackets on and others…well, they weren't there to help."

"Where's Cap?" Tony asked.

"Probably taking a break," Scott guessed. "Had a couple of scratches – we all took a beating trying to get that…gem? Stone? Weird alien object?"

Tony sighed as he looked over at something outside the meeting room. "Sometimes I gotta wonder how a guy like him keeps going after all these damn years."

"Yeah I wanna know how he does it," Scott chimed in. "Doesn't look a day over his twenties and he's…a senior citizen!"

Peter frowned when he heard those comments and he turned his chair around to face Tony and Scott. "Wait…so it's true? Captain's…really from the 40s?"

The team turned to look at Peter and he ducked his head, warmth flooding his cheeks. Well, they couldn't blame him – the newspapers had blown up and rewrote Captain's story to the point where it seemed like, nonsense. Plus one of his textbooks had assumed that the current Captain was a descendant of the original from the 1940s.

"Kid, did you think that the current Cap was Steve's grandson or something?" Rhodes asked.

"You can't blame him," Clint defended. "I took a look at one of my kids' textbooks and there's a section on him. Granted it's all backwards, but the 'geniuses' writing them don't know any better."

"Yeah Underoos, he's the real deal – fought in the 1940s, believed in all that patriotic crap they were feeding him, and…my father gave him the shield," Tony sighed. "He's a living, breathing artifact of wartime America!"

Natasha threw him a disapproving look, before addressing Peter, resting a hand on his arm. "I know you probably have a lot of questions for Steve," she began, "but I think it's best if you don't ask them. He's seen a lot and it's not fair to probe him."

Tony snorted and shook his head. "Aww come on Nat! Let him grill the vet! Wouldn't hurt – probably better hearing it from the real guy versus the textbook crap they're pushing on him."

Natasha narrowed her eyes and rose from her seat, lips pursed in a thin line. Rhodes held his hands up and murmured he didn't want to be a part of this. Clint bit his lip, looking from Natasha to Tony, clearing his throat as he shifted in his seat.

Peter glanced over at Wanda and The Vision, both sporting thoughtful looks.

"I've never talked much about his past," Wanda admitted, "but before I started working with him, I did see…sadness when I tapped his mind. I only saw a woman in a dress prompting him to dance, saying the war was over. But he seemed…confused."

"It sounds like Peggy you're describing," Sam murmured.

Tony bowed his head, a sad smile on his face. "Good ol' Peg – she's probably the only person who gave my father a run for his money. A unique woman living in a very different time. She'd never tell me or my father, but I think she always had a soft spot for Cap's pomp and patriotism."

The Vision nodded and echoed that while he never conversed with Captain often, he sensed that Steve had demons he was still battling after all those years.

"Perhaps, ask mindful questions about the time period?" The Vision offered. "I sense that he'd open up about his personal life only if he wishes to."

Natasha rolled her eyes and demanded to know if anyone was listening to her. Clint straightened up and addressed Peter.

"Peter, maybe you might wanna hold off on the questions until we figure out this Thanos guy," Clint said. "We found another Infinity Stone, but judging from what Scott and Sam just told us, we're gonna have competition for the rest of them."

* * *

"How's that grant going with Mr. Stark?" Aunt May asked as she put dinner before him.

Peter grinned as he picked up his fork and started eating. Between mouthfuls of food and gulps of water, he replied that everything was going well so far.

"Great! I'm so happy he's taken an interest in your work!" she beamed. She glanced over at his almost empty plate and asked if he wanted seconds.

Peter shot her a smile and held up a hand, "Thanks Aunt May, but I'm pretty full now."

"Well, okay then," Aunt May sighed as she rose to package the leftovers in a container. "How's the rest of school going?"

"Okay I guess," Peter said. He wiped his mouth and rested his arms on the table. "Hey, Aunt May? Can I ask you something?"

She looked up from cleaning the pot and nodded. "Of course you can. What is it?"

Peter bit his lip as he tried to think of the right way to phrase his question, without it sounding suspicious. "Well, Mr. Stark has a friend, and this guy fought in World War II," he offered.

"That's really neat – he's lucky to know this gentleman," Aunt May replied.

Peter nodded before continuing, "Well the vet, he's experienced a lot of different things and…I wanna ask him what it was like. But see, I don't wanna offend him or bother him, you know? So I guess…well, I don't know if I should ask him."

Aunt May placed the pot in one of the cupboards, before submerging some of the plates in soapy water. "Well, is this for a school report?"

"Yes," Peter lied. "Supposed to interview a veteran for History."

"Ah I see," Aunt May said. "I think, if you tell Mr. Stark that this is for a history report, I'm sure he would be more than happy to put you in touch with this gentleman. I'd dress a little nicer for the meeting with the vet. Pick a time in the mid-morning maybe? Oh and talk slowly – you tend to talk awfully fast and some people aren't used to it."

Peter nodded as he stood up and quickly kissed Aunt May on the cheek. "Thanks Aunt May."

* * *

Peter checked his watch – 8:13 AM, two minutes before Captain would head down to the kitchen area in the Avengers headquarters for his morning cup of coffee. Tony would probably be either asleep or shut off in his office trying to perfect the scanner for the remaining Infinity Stones, Natasha would be practicing her hand-to-hand skills, and the others would be off doing different things, leaving Peter alone to talk with Steve in private.

He felt a little silly sporting his costume, but he didn't want to bother with layers of clothes hanging down and covering his face or blocking Steve when he was asking his questions. Besides, it was good practice for field conditions – keeping his senses and skills sharp.

Two minutes passed and Peter held his breath as Steve entered the kitchen, stifling a yawn. The blonde walked towards the cupboard and pulled out a mug, carrying it over to the coffee machine. Steve inserted a little packet into the machine and closed the lid before pressing the buttons to start brewing his cup. He grumbled something about Tony making things harder with a machine like this and watched as the machine spewed out the perfect amount of black coffee into the mug. Once it finished, Steve grabbed the mug and tossed out the packet, taking a slow sip from it.

"You're up early Peter," he remarked as he turned in the direction where the teen was glued on the wall. He walked over to the spot where Peter was perched and leaned against the wall.

 _Shit, should have worn something else,_ Peter thought as he climbed down to eye level with Steve. He licked his lips and tried to remember all of the advice Aunt May had given him about doing this.

"So what were schools like back then? Did you call girls 'doll'? Do you still? Were you nervous before getting the serum? Did it hurt? My spider bite hurt for like a week," Peter rambled. "How was the food? Is 'then' popcorn different from 'now' popcorn?"

He studied Steve's expression and silently wanted to kick himself – good going Parker! He had rambled, had talked too fast, and probably asked all the wrong questions.

Steve stared at him with an amused look before he took another sip from his coffee cup.

"Let's see if I remembered all your questions," Steve mused. "Schools taught the same subjects, except for foreign language and computers – those weren't around yet. I had a dress code at my school and you dressed nicely – no jeans, t-shirts, or sneakers. We also had bomb drills from time to time where we had to get under our desks and wait until the signal passed. Ah, I didn't call the girls 'doll', although some of my fellow recruits did. One made the mistake of calling Peggy that and she put him in his place. I uh, still can't see myself calling a lady 'doll' – I always feel I have to address them by name. I was…nervous, especially since there was a guy who got an early version of the serum and it had negative side effects. I wouldn't say it hurt, but it was…different. See I was this scrawny guy, kind of like you, with every problem you could name. The serum fixed everything and it made me a lot taller and, well, brawny than before. That took some getting used to. Food was, simple but homey. We didn't have an abundance of butter, sugar, or chocolate – those were rationed, so either your saved your rations for something special, or you kept meals simple. A lot of vegetable gardens were grown and you ate everything on your plate or preserved it. The popcorn just had salt and you had to throw the kernels in with some oil into a pot to pop it, instead of putting a bag in the microwave and letting it run. So, was that all of them?"

Peter stared at him, dumbfounded that the oldest Avenger answered without pushback. Was this really happening?

Steve drank more coffee and chuckled. "I'm guessing everyone was all 'don't bother the war vet – it's sensitive' when you asked?"

"Uhhh ye-yeah! They were," Peter replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Wait, you're cool with me asking you this stuff? Cause if not, I'll stop and just let you enjoy your morning!"

Steve shot him a small smile and shook his head. "Kid, talking about this stuff isn't so bad – it's actually…fun to remember what things were like back then," he replied.

"So, you got any more questions for me?"


End file.
